The kid quarterback is, uh, perplexed. The experienced running back is frustrated. The head coach is quietly near the end of his rope. The offensive coordinator's NFL career is dangling by a thread. The superstar wide receiver is (we're guessing) feeling very left out. The other star wide receiver is stuck in some crazy limbo.

With seven games to go, one thing you can count on with the Raiders is that something's going to blow, soon.

Andrew Walter, the Raiders' quarterback of the moment, took the stand Sunday just after their 17-13 loss to the Broncos.

Walter is no brash pop-off. When dealing with the media, in appearance and demeanor, Walter could pass for a young stockbroker evaluating a portfolio. So when he speaks from the heart, one tends to listen.

He weighed each answer carefully and deliberately, as if testifying in a murder trial.

The Raiders have short-pass plays, and they broke out a few early Sunday, with some success, but then ...

"We exhaust all our (short) plays," Walter said, "then they (the opponents) make adjustments ... and we've exhausted all our good stuff."

Andrew said checking off to short pass plays is often not practical because "it's hard to audible to a play we haven't run (in a long time) or don't have in the game plan."

Offensive coordinator Tom Walsh, who is skating on thin ice with hot skates, supposedly asks his guys during the week what plays they'd like to run. Has Walter expressed his wish for more short stuff?

"A number of times."

Walsh's response?

"Some acceptance, some rejection," Walter said.

He elaborated, quietly.

"I'd like there to be more quick stuff, swing routes, flat routes, short stuff. You can't keep five steps (long drop-backs), you've gotta move the pocket. ... We should have some more (short options)."

Asked about Ronald Curry, who is used sparingly as a third wide receiver, Walter said, "I think he's a playmaker. I certainly like the way he runs routes, sees things."

On Sunday, Curry caught two passes for 11 yards.

Is the Raiders' offense too predictable?

"I think that would be a true statement," Walter said.

The Raiders' offense right now is fairly simple, possibly in deference to Walter, who made his seventh NFL start Sunday.

"We need to make (the offense) more complex," Walter said.

But the coaches are keeping it simple?

"Yes."

No further questions, your honor.

Look, you're not going to get a lot of rah-rah for the status quo from the players on an offense that has dragged the team to a 2-7 record and is scoring 13 points per game.

But Walter is getting clobbered trying to make the famed, vaunted and outdated Raiders' vertical game work. The Raiders' offense isn't struggling, it's strangling. The Raiders can't score, and there are several areas of concern.

Like the star wide-outs.

Randy Moss caught one (one!) pass Sunday, for 8 yards. He also dropped a semi-catchable ball that Walter threw too low. Walter threw five passes to Moss on Sunday, one in the second half.

Moss was double-teamed a lot, but mostly the Raiders don't look to their superstar captain. Maybe that's why Moss is losing interest. On a deep sideline pass in the second quarter, Moss got sandwiched between the cornerback and the safety, and instead of leaping for the high ball, Moss (a springy 6-foot-4) ducked down and away from the action.

On back-to-back plays in the first quarter, with the Raiders leading 7-0, Moss did this:

-- On third down, he appeared to alligator-arm a pass over the middle.

Whether you blame Moss or the inept and unimaginative offense, the Raiders are getting zero bang for their major Moss bucks.

And who would have imagined two months ago that the Raiders would score one touchdown in a game and their two high-priced and healthy star receivers, Moss and Jerry Porter, would combine for one catch, for 8 yards?

Porter played two plays Sunday. Why? Who knows?

Furthermore, who knows who knows?

Nobody explains why Porter dresses but gets only two plays.

The offense is a Philip Marlowe mystery, heading for an explosive climax.

Running back LaMont Jordan said Sunday he would not discuss the offense's problems because it's time for him to keep his mouth shut, work hard and play better.

Jordan spoke out last week, saying the Raiders need to run more than the 11 running plays they called in their meltdown against the Seahawks. The Raiders called 25 running plays Sunday, good for 46 yards.

If Jordan has thoughts on what's wrong, he said he would keep them to himself because "some people around here might be a little sensitive if you speak the truth. ... I don't think everyone around here can accept the truth."